Fellow pet owner,

My name is Colin Weaver.  I am 37 years old.  I am probably a lot like you in that I have had a dog and/or a cat as part of my family for all but a tiny handful of years in my life.  My current dog, a 4-year old Weimaraner named Seven, is not just a pet; she is a member of my family.  Taking care of her and protecting her is no less a responsibility than taking care of my 3-year old daughter.

In addition to being a dog lover I am also an enthusiastic reptile fan.  In particular I have an affinity for pythons.  This fact, I suspect, will immediately distance some of you.  Pythons are not conventional pets and because pythons are enigmatic they are often feared.  Despite their fast-growing popularity, they are on the edge of mainstream pet ownership.  It is true that reptiles do not show the same affection toward their owners that dogs and cats do.  The opposite, however, is not true.  The way you feel about your dog or cat is the way that many feel about their reptiles.  For the moment I ask that you not judge the particular animal that some choose to make a part of their lives.  For now, just focus on the way you feel about your pets and give credit to reptile owners for feeling the same way about their companions.

In the United States dog ownership is under constant attack.  The source of this attack is most commonly the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).  Volumes have been written on the Internet about their deceptive ways but they continue to be successful in launching attacks against pet owners (and breeders) around the country.  I know your frustration regarding this because I feel it, too.  Dogs are only one of several targets of the HSUS.  Reptile keepers are also struggling with the HSUS’ powerful lobbying skills.  At this moment there is a bill in Congress called HR2811 which seeks a nationwide ban on many of the most popular reptiles in the pet community (the Senate version of the bill is called S373).  At a recent hearing in the House a team of more than 25 HSUS members were present to forward their efforts to get this bill made into law.

The reasons proposed for this ban are false.  They are being sensationalized by the HSUS and this is being compounded by the media.  South Florida does have a problem with a population of pythons having established themselves in the Everglades.  This problem, which is isolated to extreme South Florida is being used as a point of leverage to ban the ownership of pythons and boas throughout the entire United States.  There are two primary points of the HSUS argument:

1.The HSUS and USGS feel that the python might be able to spread north from Florida and establish itself in the lower 1/3 of the United States.

• Because pythons cannot control their own body temperature this is simply not possible.  Highly experienced reptile veterinarians with detailed understanding of reptile physiology have testified to this fact.  The ecosystem of South Florida is largely unique in the United States.  Their ability to spread north from the Everglades is false and being driven by nothing more than the average person’s fear of snakes.  Pythons have been kept as pet for not less than 50 years in this country.  If they had the ability to establish themselves in other parts of the country, they would likely have done so by now.  One of the USGS’ selling points on this matter is that global warming over the next 100 years could allow the snakes to survive further north.  Is that what we’re going to do now?  Legislate the pet trade on what might happen in the decades to come?  Really?  Remember the movie Minority Report starring Tom Cruise?  In that movie people were  arrested and put in prison for crimes they were going to commit in the future.  Banning the ownership of snakes because the temperature might change in the future is just as preposterous.  That movie sought to teach us a subtle lesson; it appears that it was not learned.

2.Pythons are a public safety issue.

• The HSUS states that pythons kill people and are a risk to public health.  This is both fear-driven and false.  Of the pets that people choose to keep pythons are one of the least likely to be a danger.  Severe injury or death because of a python is incredibly rare.  It is estimated that more than 5 million Americans own a reptile, several hundred thousand of which are large pythons and boas.  Over the past 30 years there have been a total of 12 deaths attributed to large pythons.  While nobody should ever discount the value of a life we have to admit that so few deaths in that many years is hardly justification for pythons being a public safety issue.  It is worthy to note that none of those 12 deaths was from a python or boa escaping into the wild and attacking someone.  Each of those incidents occurred in the home and each was the result of poor caging and/or improper handling.  The simple fact of the matter is that responsible ownership of pythons and boas is not a public health concern.

The pythons in the Everglades is a decidedly Florida problem.  Florida Fish and Wildlife has jumped on the bandwagon of this ban because federal legislation means federal dollars.  The prospect of getting the entire country to fund Everglades restoration is a compelling motivator.  In order to generate support for their desired end-result they have begun actively searching for pythons and when found they parade them about on the evening news.  The media, and their love of all things sensational, is glad to feature them.

One of the most recent efforts of the HSUS has been to call for a ban on the Boa Constrictor in addition to several python species (they initially tried to ban all pythons).  Suggesting a ban on ‘boa constrictor’ is the same thing as suggesting a ban on all terrier breeds because you feel that pit bulls are a problem.  It it absolutely ridiculous.  If one of the 15 species of terriers (that’s how many my research showed there to be) was a member of your family how would you feel if they were banned because of a HSUS/media-driven view of pit bulls?  I hope you would be as frustrated and angry as the reptile community is right now.  Similar to the diversity of terriers, there are literally dozens of different types of boa constrictors and most of them are very small as adults.  We are in danger of seeing a huge portion of the pet trade eliminated by this proposed legislation.  We are scared. We are angry.  And we are frustrated.

Now, here is the point of my letter:  The reptile community is not large enough to indefinitely withstand the assault being launched by the HSUS and our current political representation is too new and inexperienced to avoid being blindsided by the clever lobbying skills long-since perfected by the HSUS.  The passage of this bill is a very real possibility.  Because of this I am asking you to help me and the rest of the reptile community.  I need your help.  Part of my livelihood and my right to responsibly own the pet of my choosing is in danger of being taken away from me.  I need you to defend pet ownership in this country by contacting both your delegate in the House of Representatives and your Senator and tell them you oppose HR2811 (the House bill) and S373 (the Senate version of the bill).  I need this help because I believe with all my heart that the only way that pet owners in this country are ever going to be safe against the efforts of organizations like the HSUS is for all of us to work together to protect the rights of all pet owners, regardless of what type of pet it is.

Do this for me.  Please.  I need your help.  Make the call to your House delegate and your Senator and I, in return, make myself available to you when you need help in your fight for your right to have the pet of your choosing.  It is past time for the pet owners of this country to come together, to form a collective and work as a unit to oppose the HSUS’ attacks on responsible pet ownership.

To find out who represents you in the House of Representatives, follow this link:  https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

To find out who represents you in the Senate, follow this link:  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

HR2811 is currently in committee in the House.  Here is a list of the committee members: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/committee.xpd?id=HSJU

Thank you,

Colin Weaver
cmweaver@gmail.com

What a polarizing animal the python has become.

Within the portion of our country that is paying attention we are divided into two distinct groups.  One one side we have reptile owners from every walk of life; blue collar, white collar, broke-as-a-joke and stinking rich.  Some of these reptile owners have a single python while others have many and breed them for profit.  And we have owners who fit everywhere in-between.  Their levels of personal responsibility are as diverse as they are.  I’m sure there are some who have no business owning a reptile.  The overwhelming majority, however, are quite responsible.  They respect their animals, take care of them and work to ensure that they don’t impose on the rights of others who are not as enthusiastic about snakes.  And yes, many of them actually love their snakes in the way that the average person loves their dog or cat.  No, pythons are not as affectionate and attentive as my Weimaraner (not by a long shot) but they do have personalities.  Each snake is unique.  And if you were to spend some time with them you would also come to realize that truth.

On the other side of this debate is a small, well-positioned group of misinformed individuals who are calling for a federal ban on pythons; not Burmese pythons …all pythons.  Maybe.  Nobody on this side seems to be python savvy enough to know that there are actually different kinds of pythons with the overwhelming majority of them being quite tiny compared to the sinister Burmese.  I’m not entirely sure where they stand on other types of pythons and I don’t think they know either.

Eradicating the existence of pet pythons in America is such an easy thing to stand for, isn’t it?  Pythons are huge, menacing, people-eating machines that are actively slithering north from Southern Florida toward the back yards of the Washington DC suburbs where they will stalk your pets and hunt your children!  Well, that’s the way the media tells it, at least.  The truth in this debate is not so newsworthy so the media (with the help of bad info from supposedly scientific organizations) is fabricating the truth to better their ratings.  And why not?  Ratings equal dollars.  From what I gather chaos, revolution, murder, drug overdosing Kings of Pop, financial downturns, forest fires, celebrity clothing choices, car crashes and Burmese pythons are the things that sell newspapers and ad space.  From the Discovery Channel and the History Channel to a few dozen newspaper columnists around the country and all the way up to Senator Bill Nelson, who is a living, breathing example of misinformation incarnate, people who know absolutely nothing about pythons are calling for their nationwide ban.  Their numbers are small but, as I wrote earlier, they are well positioned in the media and are able amplify their noise.  The original rallying cry was the establishment of a population of Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades.  An unfounded fear regarding their ability to migrate north has generated a small amount of hysteria and rather than taking the time to find the truth they have planted their flag and are trying to rally troops to support a ban.  Senator Nelson has to support this ban in order to get money from the Humane Society of the United States so I can at least give him credit for being a true politician and supporting the voice with the fattest wallet.  The newpaper boys and girls advocating a ban are just parroting things they heard someone else say. I seriously doubt they have any real opinion of their own.  So  I forgive them.  They are puppets of the media juggernaut and know not what they do.

Two groups of people; one that understands pythons and is asking, “Really?  Seriously?”, and one that seems to have gotten their undergrad degree in large constrictors by watching Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez in 1997′s Anaconda.  Their masters thesis was complete as the credits rolled on Samuel Jackson’s Snakes on a Plane.  Armed with that level of education about the true nature of snakes they could have done themselves a favor by hiring Mr. Jackon as their spokesperson and could have used this as their slogan:

“HR 669.  When you absolutely, positively, got to ban every mother fucking snake in the land …accept no substitute.”

The call for a ban on pythons has no real merit.  It is based on irrational fear and misinformation.  And Senator Nelson embodied the desire to play on people’s fear when he unrolled a stretched out python skin during a Senate hearing in early July 2009.  He wants to protect the Florida Everglades …or so he says.  How does banning pythons in Seattle protect the Florida Everglades?  The truth is that he wants special interest money from the HSUS and other organizations who want to ban the ownership of exotic animals.  And the Burmese python is a great entry point; a way to get a better foothold on the banning process.

Just how many Burmese pythons are there in the Florida Everglades?  I have heard numbers as low as a few thousand all the way up to multiple hundreds of thousands.  People who don’t support a ban like the lower number while proponents of the ban like the big one.  The real number:  unknown.

How did Burmese pythons get into the Everglades?  I do not doubt for a single second that at some point in the past some knucklehead released a snake into the wild that should not have been released.  But it is not a verifiable fact that the current Everglades population comes from a released pet (as the media loves to suggest).  Defenders of python freedom point to Hurricane Andrew as the culprit because it caused a massive release of non-native species into the Everglades.  The truth is that nobody will ever know for sure.  We would do a lot better pointing our attention at eliminating the Burmese python from the area rather than playing blame games.  If you need volunteers to go down and collect them, call me.  I’m in.  I can also rally dozens, if not hundreds, of other snake enthusiasts who will agree that a mass collection effort will be a wonderful pastime.

I continue to be disappointed by the media’s propensity to hop on to the coat tails of the side of an argument that gets the most press.  I understand why they do it but it still disappoints.  It also diminishes my ability to trust everything else they say or print.  If they so eloquently lie to the public about pythons how much truth is there in their reporting on fossil beds in Montana?  And oh what a wonderful thing the Burmese pythons is shaping up to be. It’s a win-win for the media.  They get to sell a lie that invokes fear and then clean up on the ad revenue sold because of increased readership/web traffic.

Cheers,

Colin Weaver

In the mid-90′s I bred Burmese pythons.  They were some of the most gentle and tolerant snakes I have ever kept and working with them was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had as a reptile breeder.  Some life changes necessitated that I stop breeding them and space issues keep me from beginning again.  But I miss them.  I want to put another big group of Burmese pythons together and start breeding them again.  Four things give me pause:

1. Food: Finding a consistent local supply of affordable food has been problematic in the past.  This is the least of my concerns and can be overcome, I’m sure.
2. Space & Caging: Do I need to elaborate on the logistics of housing 30-50 large constrictors?  While do-able, it’s not trivial.
3. City ordinance: The city I live in requires all reptiles over 8 feet to have a permit.  I don’t mind paying the permit fee but I do mind being on the radar of local officials.  I feel like it makes me a target.  “Hey, this guy has 40 Burmese pythons.  He needs a visit.”
   I should avoid complaining on this point, though.  At least the city I live in hasn’t banned them completely.
4. The current national political climate hell-bent on banning large constrictors: If I put together a large breeding group now will I find them banned and worthless some time in the next few years?

At the risk of becoming a pariah I suggest that the writing is on the wall for the so-called Big 5 Constrictors.  I fear they will be banned some time in the next few years.  I also fear it will be our (e.g. the reptile community) own fault when it happens.  As a quick review for those who don’t already know, the Big Five include:

1. Reticulated Pythons
2. Anacondas
3. Burmese Pythons
4. African Rock Pythons
5. Australian Scrub Pythons

We have a chance to stop the ban but the reptile community is currently broken into two distinct groups.  While both groups have the same general objective of allowing for continued ownership of large constrictors (and other reptiles) they differ quite on a bit on their approach.  I suggest you can call the two groups Team USARK and Team PIJAC.  I know I am going to be accused of perpetuating the divide by laying it out this way but this is how I see it.  It is my perception (and you now what they say about the link between perception and reality).

Everything I have seen, read and heard seems to indicate that PIJAC supports the responsible implementation of regulatory controls that will allow continued ownership of large constrictors while USARK does not support any controls, in any form.  As individuals we align with the side that best fits our own personal desires.  That division has and will drive the efforts of both groups in two different directions that ultimately do not complement each other.  That separation may lead to neither group achieving its objective and the third, less desirable result, a complete ban, may prevail in their stead.

The non-big-5-owning portion of the reptile community (ball python breeders, in particular) is often accused of being willing to throw the 5 under the bus to quiet the voices of people wishing to ban snake ownership.  And large constrictors are such an easy target, are they not?  Burmese pythons garner most of the public spotlight because of the Florida Everglades situation and I can’t conjure a story of someone being seriously injured or killed by a ball python or any of the other smaller python species.  It’s always one the five (usually a burm or a retic)  that makes the news.  And they are the one’s profiled on the Discovery Channel, History Channel and other so-called ‘knowledge’ channels.  As a ball python breeder (and former Burmese python breeder) let me be extremely clear on this point:  a federal ban on the Big 5 will not stop the people who want to put your right to own snakes and other reptiles to an end.  Sure, a ban on the Five may quiet them down for a bit but I promise you they will be back, emboldened by their success, to finish the job and ban the rest of the python species.  Their goal is not to ban large constrictors; they want to ban all reptiles.  So if you are a ball python, carpet python or any other kind of python breeder, stop thinking that a ban on the Five will end the political opposition to reptile ownership. It won’t.  It will strengthen it!  All you need to do is look at Senate bill S.373 for evidence of this.  Regardless of size of python being bred, we need to be united and consistent in our opposition to legislation.  This includes a united approach for the future of reptile ownership.

Having said that I fear that rigid and uncompromising opposition to any legislation will result in long-term failure and the Five will be banned at a federal level.  Not long after the Big 5 get banned, many if not all, of the other python species will follow.  Supporters of these bills are sneaky and vigilant.  They use misinformation and fear to further their objectives and given enough time they are likely to be successful in convincing others who don’t care to take the time to find the truth.  Please understand that people do not intentionally form opinions they know to be wrong.  Many rely on seemingly valid sources of information, like the USGS and the University of Florida, to help them form their opinions.  Each person believes what they do for a reason and they often define themselves by what they believe.  In order to maintain their opinions they have to find evidence that supports them.  This fact lets us understand that people who want to prove their opinion will conjur results necessary to validate their perspective.  Consider this publication on the invasion of Burmese Pythons from the Univerity of Florida.  When quoted by the media, academic publications are often presented as lore to the general public.  If you read the article referenced above you will find that it is not short on bias against the large constrictors (and pet owners).  Rather than being an objective academic analysis of the status of the Burmese Python in the Florida Everglades it is a position piece cleverly set up to be ammunition for future citations and political rhetoric.  It is designed to support an opinion and it is seeded with some facts to bolster its credibility.  Who is going to argue with Congressman so-and-so when he is quoting ‘facts’ published as part of a study conducted by the University of Florida?  I hope you see the power in this type of misinformation.  The public will never question these sources, much less read them.

Rigid resistance to any and all legislation may result in complete legislation.  Our best chance for success is to find middle ground.  We need to quell the voices of opposition while maintaining our rights to own and breed snakes of our choosing.  To do this I suggest that the Big Five owners and breeders should not be thrown under the bus …but they may have to get their toes run over by it.  I’m not saying this because they deserve it.  It’s a simple truth that these constrictors get the lions share of attention from people on the outside looking in.  Starting anywhere other than with the Five will likely be viewed as a token offering.

But what do I mean by ‘getting their toes run over’?  Simple, really.  Owners and breeders of large constrictors will have to forego some of the freedoms enjoyed by breeders of smaller snakes.  To avoid sugar-coating it, breeding and ownership of large constrictors will be regulated.  The question is not ‘if they will be regulated’, it is ‘to what extend will they be regulated’.  There are two central issues that legislation will attempt to address:  invasive species and public health and safety.  The ability for large constrictors to invade other regions of the country is hotly debated.

Invasive Species

Nobody seems to dispute the presence of Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades.  A few sensational (and very over-used) pictures (1) (2) have been released and more than one article/TV show has tried to portray an epic battle taking place for top-of-the-food-chain status between the American alligator and the Burmese python.  It makes for great TV but that’s about it.  The Burmese pythons, along with many, many other plants and animals have made their way into the Florida Everglades and found conditions conducive to their survival.  Over the past decade about 1,000 pythons have been captured in the southern-most portions of the Everglades.  Despite wild reports suggesting otherwise, there is no evidence to prove that they are moving north.  Burmese pythons do not have the ability to survive long-term in the colder parts of the United States, including northern Florida.

Education is our best defense against people who use fear of python invasion as justification for a ban.  We need to educate the people about the reality of python survivability in temperate regions.  Once people who vote on our behalf understand that invasion beyond the Florida Everglades is all but impossible we will have done serious damage to this argument.

Public Health & Safety

The spread of non-native ticks (addressed by the National Reptile Improvement Plan, NRIP) and the ability for large constrictors to severely injure or even kill humans are points of concern (the former is a concern for all imported reptiles).  Death of humans because of large constrictors is incredibly rare.  My research indicates that 11 people have been killed by large constrictors in the past 29 years.  But when it happens it is sensational.  The news and other media outlets seize upon it and milk the stories for all they are worth.  The damage to the image of herpetoculturists is disproportionate and long-lasting.  I’m willing to bet that more than 11 people have died from choking on pen tops in the past 29 years but pen tops, which exist in every home, do not have a lobby against them because of their danger to public safety.  To say that large constrictors pose an imminent risk to humans is just plain silly but when you watch TV they make it seem like there is a python in your back yard, stalking you.  The truth does not stir people, nor does it sell ad space.  The media lies to make the facts more interesting.

Sizable portions of our population are afraid of all snakes (I know a woman who paid $350 to have a 6″ ringneck snake removed from her back yard).  That fear is amplified when the snakes are large.  That fears transcends into hysteria when the snake is one of the Big 5.  Hysteria and fear are not mindsets that allow for rational discussion.  As irrational as the fear is to members of the reptile community, it is real to the people who experience it and they are not likely to be swayed by us telling them everything is all right.

So how do you fight against a largely baseless agrument that is supported by fear, sensational media coverage, irresponsible academics and abusive extrapolations by supposedly legitimate scientific organizations?  Education is the most important tool but it is a long term approach.  Let’s compare the fear of snakes to something like racism.  Racism, like fear of snakes, is a learned behavior.  It takes time to eliminate it and education is one of the key tools.  Eliminating fear of reptiles has to start early in life.  My two year old daughter is not afraid of snakes.  How could she be?  But the other day she told me she was scared the snake was going to bite her.  I later learned she got the idea from another child at school whose parents are deathly afraid of snakes.  How to address it?  Well, I started with my daughter.  Being afraid of snakes in this family isn’t going to work out so she and I spent some time with the snakes so she knows they won’t hurt her.  Next in line is my daughter’s school.  My wife is in the process of arranging a ‘show and tell’ day where I will take some snakes (and other reptiles) in and teach the kids that, while worthy of respect, they are not dangerous.  Every person in the reptile community needs to be a reptile evangelist, working to dispel fear and misunderstanding whenever and wherever we can.  But grassroots efforts (which have been going on for years) will not suffice.  There needs to be a national campaign, supported by entire reptile community, to begin to eradicate fear of snakes.

Education is a strategic aim.  We need a more tactical approach to deal with our immediate problem; a proposed ban on pythons.  Education won’t do us much good if we lose our right to own reptiles in the next few years.  It is likely that legislation in some form is a foregone conclusion.  We will do ourselves a favor to come to the table with something other than blanket opposition.  Here is what I propose:

• Implement a national permit system for large constrictor ownership.  Permits will be per individual/business, not per animal.  There will be an annual fee.  These fees must be realistic and not serve to exclude the average person from ownership (because of high prices).  For example, 200,000 large constrictor owners paying $15/year will generate $3 million in annual revenue.
• Require owners of large constrictors to attend an 8-hour certification class that teaches basic husbandry techniques, safe handling, escape-resistant caging, basic medical response (e.g. what to do if you get bit), etc.  Successful completion of the course is required for permit approval.  Enrollment in the course will be fee-based with a portion of the fees used to provide reptile education around the country.
  • This course could be offered as a single Saturday event (9-5) or two hours/night for four weeks.
  • Large constrictor owners could also be required to renew their certification every 5 years by attending a 1/2 day refresher course.  This will provide an opportunity to make sure all owners of large constrictors are up-to-date on any new developments in husbandry as well as the status of any regulations.  This also provides another revenue stream, complementing the annual permit fee.
• Reptile owners, not reptile sellers /breeders, are responsible for obtaining a permit and certification prior to the animal reaching 8 feet in length.  The breeder/seller of the reptile is required to notify the buyer of the requirement for a permit and certifiation but is not required to maintain records on who the animals were sold to and and what their permit status is.  This requirement falls to the reptile owner and the national reptile permit system administrators.
  • This may be a sticking point.  I think it’s important to avoid burdening reptile breeders/resellers with extra tracking and paperwork.  But large constrictors disappearing into the community with no trail to show where they have gone is likely going to cause a lot of buyers to simply not get a permit or attend the course.  The recourse to this is that there has to be a stiff penalty for failure to register and take the required certification class.  This may take the form of a fine, seizure of the animal(s) and a suspension period, during which time the offender is prohibited from owning a large constrictor.
  • I am not an advocate of microchipping.  Pet owners being labeled as the cause of the problem in the Florida Everglades is an unfounded accusation.  Natural disasters such as Hurrican Andrew are more likely suspects for the unintentional release of reptiles into the wild.  Escaped constrictors are not a problem outside the Florida Everlgades so the only thing mandatory microchipping will do is increase the total cost of ownership (TCO) and the money spent on building, administering and maintaining a tracking database will outweigh any potential benefits.  Microchipping also inhibits the free trade of reptiles.  Ownership of many animals changes frequently and quickly.  I can cite many instances where an animal changed ownership four (4) times in a single day.  Keeping up with microchip registrations will be burdensome without benefit.
• Stiff penalties must be put in place for anyone caught intentionally releasing a non-native species into the wild.  Most states already have something like this but the consequences need to be undesireable enough to cause people to want to find a different solution for getting rid of their animals.

I want a world where reptile ownership is unrestricted and unregulated.  I don’t want any national permit system nor do I want to have to pay an annual fee or take a course for the right to own a reptile of my choosing.  But that is increasingly not the reality.  I would much rather endure a little bit of paperwork, pay a small fee and attend a class every few years than have my rights taken away completely.  I fear that an unwillingness to budge by the reptile community will cause the total loss of our rights.  It’s not fair and the fears of others are not based on reality but they don’t have to be in order for a law to get passed.  It’s time we took the initiative and put processes into place that ensure our right to own large constrictors.  And as soon as we do that I will start building my group of Burmese again, safe that I can breed them and be able to legally sell the animals.

Cheers,

Colin Weaver